Jennifer Martel, a Taunton High graduate, allegedly killed by son of Red Sox announcer Jerry Remy

Saturday

Aug 17, 2013 at 12:01 AMAug 17, 2013 at 5:03 PM

Jared Remy’s relatives convinced Jennifer Martel not to file a permanent restraining order against her live-in boyfriend when he allegedly assaulted her this past week, Martel’s family said Friday.

“That was not done, and it ultimately led to her death,” Richard Martel, Jennifer’s uncle, said Friday outside his Fall River home. Martel and his daughter, Amanda, stayed home from work to grieve for Jennifer Martel, who died Thursday night from multiple stab wounds. She was 27.

Jared Remy — the son of Red Sox legend and Somerset native Jerry Remy — is charged with Jennifer Martel’s murder. He was ordered held without bail after his arraignment Friday in Waltham District Court. Remy pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and domestic assault and battery.

Brian Fraga

Jared Remy’s relatives convinced Jennifer Martel not to file a permanent restraining order against her live-in boyfriend when he allegedly assaulted her this past week, Martel’s family said Friday.

“That was not done, and it ultimately led to her death,” Richard Martel, Jennifer’s uncle, said Friday outside his Fall River home. Martel and his daughter, Amanda, stayed home from work to grieve for Jennifer Martel, who died Thursday night from multiple stab wounds. She was 27.

“It’s just unbelievable,” Richard Martel said, adding that he feared this day would come.

“I always used to say she was going to end up dead ... He was always hitting her,” Martel said.

Jared Remy — the son of Red Sox legend and Somerset native Jerry Remy — is charged with Jennifer Martel’s murder. He was ordered held without bail after his arraignment Friday in Waltham District Court. Remy pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and domestic assault and battery.

Richard Martel said his niece dated Jared Remy, 34, for about five or six years and they had a 4-year-old daughter together. The child is currently in the custody of the state Department of Children and Families. Jennifer Martel’s parents — who were traveling Friday from Virginia — plan to take custody of the child, relatives said.

The child was in the Waltham apartment when her mother was killed, authorities said. During Remy’s arraignment Friday, prosecutors described a “vicious attack,” and said Remy repeatedly stabbed Martel while he was on top of her. When Remy was arrested, he was covered in blood, prosecutors said.

Richard Martel said his niece’s relationship with Jared Remy was “volatile.” He said Remy was “tough” on Jennifer and insulted her mother when her parents visited. Remy, relatives said, was possessive and violent, and had isolated Jennifer from her family. Richard Martel said he had never met Remy.

“She had to deal with his attitude, but she loved him and had a child with him,” Martel said. “She was a good mother to her baby. She tried to make it work.”

According to WCVB-TV, a GateHouse Media partner, records show that police arrested Jared Remy at the couple’s Waltham apartment complex on Tuesday night. Remy was charged with assault and battery, and was released Wednesday on personal recognizance after being arraigned in Waltham District Court, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said.

Jennifer Martel was granted a temporary restraining order on Tuesday night, but she declined to extend it the next day at court.

In the past few days, Jennifer Martel sent out emails to friends to say she was scared, her uncle said, adding that she changed her Facebook status on Thursday from “in a relationship” to “it’s complicated.” Richard Martel Sr., Jennifer’s grandfather, said Jennifer was looking to end the relationship.

Amanda Martel, Jennifer’s cousin, said she met Jared Remy on one occasion.

“He seemed really nice at the time,” she said.

A business partner posted on Jerry Remy’s official Twitter account Friday that the Remy family’s “thoughts and prayers go out to the Martel family.”

Relatives remembered Jennifer Martel as a kind-hearted young woman who was an avid sports fan and loved her family and friends.

“She was kind and outgoing. She didn’t have a mean bone in her body. I never saw her being rude to anybody,” Richard Martel said.

Jennifer Martel was born in Arizona, but her parents moved back to Massachusetts when she was young. She grew up in Dartmouth, Fall River and Taunton. She was one of two children of Brian and Patricia Martel, who live in Franklin, Va. Her brother, Brian Martel Jr., also lives in Virginia with his wife and children.

Jennifer Martel graduated from Taunton High School in 2004. In her yearbook write-up, she said she would miss football games, homecoming dances and hanging out with friends.

“She was very, very loving,” Amanda Martel said.

“I never heard her swear. She was just a beautiful person. She wanted to better herself,” Richard Martel said.

Jennifer Martel was studying to become a teacher and worked at a Market Basket to pay expenses, relatives said. Richard Martel said he plans to open a memorial fund in Jennifer’s name to help the family pay for burial expenses.

“Jenn was an outgoing person who liked to have fun. I had never seen her yelling at anybody. She had a good personality. She worked hard, she worked at various places, sometimes two jobs, and never complained about it,” Martel Sr. said.

Richard Martel Jr. said his niece used to play all the time with his daughter.

“She used to baby-sit my kids. We used to be together all the time,” he said.

Employees at Market Basket in Raynham who worked there with Jennifer Martel during her stint as a part-time employee remembered her as being well-adjusted and personable.

“She was a very nice girl … fun to be around and very outgoing,” Nancy Nichols said.

Nichols said she couldn’t recall the exact year Martel worked at the Route 138 store, but she said Martel at the time appeared to be about 19.

Nichols, 47, said she was a supervisor for the front of the store when Martel was working as a part-time cashier.

“I never got to know her well, but she was pleasant to work with,” Nichols said.

Three restraining orders have been taken out under Jared Remy’s name since 2005. He was the defendant in two and the plaintiff in one, court documents said.

Jared Remy was fired from his Fenway Park security job in 2009 after he and another guard were implicated in a steroid use scandal.

In 2005, Jared Remy was arrested and charged with assault and battery after he was accused of beating up his then-girlfriend at his father’s Weston home.